Category Archive: Jason-ism

Same amount of effort

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Tue. January 18, 2011

I’ve been meditating on something I told one of my half-marathon clinic members. See, she was also a member of the Learn to Run clinic that I did in July 2009. I told her:

Think about it. You are putting in the same amount of effort now as you did almost two years ago when you were just learning to run. See how much farther you’re running?

It’s true. I might even say that I was putting in way more effort back when I was starting out. These days moving doesn’t require as much. We’ve all come a long way. After reminding her of that she walked away smiling. We both understood.

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Every step

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Sun. September 28, 2008

At a time like this
Every step is a gift
Every kilometre is a miracle
Every breath is a celebration
Every race is a triumph of spirit

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Tastes like gnat’s piss

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Thu. September 18, 2008

Back in university when it came to beer I used to like Keith’s Pale Ale. It was light and felt alright going down. After a long period since graduation, I recently had a warm bottle of Keith’s. My first thought was:

Since when did that beer taste like gnat’s piss?

Ugh. Yeah…not drinking that again for a long while.

ETA: OK, so warm beer is never a good idea. Still…realizing that there’s better stuff out there.

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Time to put on my disgruntled face!

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Thu. August 28, 2008

And so it went:

I went out to lunch with a couple of my colleagues. I think my watch said that it was beer o’clock. Anyway, on the way back to the office, up the stairs, I jokingly announce to my colleagues: “aaaaall right then, time to put on my disgruntled face!” That drew a few laughs. Just as I finished though, we crossed paths with someone heading down the stairs. I felt a really quick moment of panic, thinking “oh shit, what have I done?” He sort of just glared at me, and I glared back. The fortunate thing is that it wasn’t anyone from the company. I got a few comments from colleagues saying “man, what if that was the CEO?” All I could muster was a curt “meh.”

The persona of Jay spewing bittercakes is intact!

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Moose head

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Wed. August 20, 2008

me: Hmm…do you have cash?
h: Nope, do you?
me: No. How about one of us covers this one and the other takes the next.
h: That’s fine.
[bill comes]
h: So…who’s paying?
me: Doesn’t matter.
h: Let’s flip a coin.
me: Sure.
[I pull out a quarter]
h: So…heads: I’ll pay. Tails: you’ll get it.
me: OK.
[clink clink]
me: Heads.
h: Uhh…what are you talking about?
me: Heads!
h: Umm…no…
me: Look! It’s a moose head!
h: That’s not heads.
me: …oh…shit.

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The 20sb bio

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Tue. July 8, 2008

I have a profile up at Twenty Something Bloggers. So far that’s the blogger community that I’ve been participating most in, which really isn’t a whole lot but still, every little bit counts, right?

Anyway, when I signed up I had to fill out a form requesting just some general information about myself. When it came time to fill out the “About Me” section, I was kind of stumped. I didn’t want to put anything too dorky because really I don’t want to come across as such. After much debate I ended up crafting this response:

I’m an engineering grad with a tech job in downtown Toronto. I’m battling that ongoing struggle to define who I am and what I want, all while trying to maintain some sanity when everything else has gone crazy.

Now, I suppose that was fine and all, but something about it struck me as being rather incomplete. It was short and kind of trite. The cheese factor was there, but I didn’t mind so much. Over time though the incomplete quality of it started to bug me more and more. Just a few days ago I did something about it. I fleshed out a longer bio, which is really harder than it sounds. I kept the bit above, but also added more meat. I think that it balanced out the cheese quite nicely. Anyway, here’s the rest:

Despite the tech job, I don’t consider myself a tech nerd. I’m good at what I do, but I willingly leave the interest in techno-babble at work. Where do my interests lie on my own time then? Err…good question.

I’m a runner. I’m far from being fast, but I have the determination needed to get the distances done. I’m currently working toward a half-marathon in October.

Languages interest me. I find etymology interesting. I have the right mind for trivia. I am a background observer type.

I can swing from silly to serious, air-headed to severe, dedicated to aloof. I’m like Shrek: I’m an ogre with many layers. I fit a classic Scorpio archetype.

I kind of like it. I think I’m still inclined to add just a little bit more to close it out nicely, but as it is right now I find that I can live with it.

What thoughts do you have?

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Quota of stupid

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Fri. November 30, 2007

Ugh. Sometimes I can be dense.

Day’s just started for me and I’m already dangerously close to my daily quota of “stupid.”

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Running log: 2007/11/16

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Fri. November 16, 2007

This 10K clinic is getting me to do things that I would never have expected. It’s all quite challenging, but at the same time a lot of fun just because a lot of it is new to me. On Wednesday, we did some hill training. We did a continuous 2K run to the hill area where the instructor made us run lightly down this really long slope. At the bottom, we ran all the way back up for about 400-500m. Craziness! I was wiped out for the first climb probably because I just didn’t know what to expect. The last few were a lot better. Man, they were tough! Despite that, I found it to be a lot of fun. We repeated the climb four times before heading back to store. I thought that the run back would be horribly tough because I’d spent most of my energy on the climbs, but honestly it wasn’t too bad at all. When I got back I was all smiles.

Yesterday, as it would happen, the guest speaker spoke about biomechanics. A lot of what he said emphasized a lot of points that the clinic instructor was telling me. All of the info was useful because it was an indication that I need to break out of some bad habits that I’ve developed. Anyway, when we stepped out of the store to begin the run, the instructor announced that the 6K we were going to do was going to be continuous. I was kind of in shock. Every time I’d run with the clinic it’s always been with the run/walk principle. He did tell us to take it easy, but I was still apprehensive. How would I manage? Well…I just did. When we got to the 3K turn around point, the experienced people seemed to speed up (or I slowed down..which is probably likely). I just stayed at my pace and kept at it. I was pretty exhausted by the last 500m, but somehow pushed through without a single walk break. In the end, waiting at the stoplights, I was just amazed at myself. I think my instructor was laughing with me in my happy state. I was feeling a lot of pride that I’d come so far.

As I spoke with my instructor, I said something that stuck with me…and will probably stick with me as I continue this running journey:

“It’s not that I didn’t think I could do it. Rather, it’s just that I didn’t know that I could do it.”

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